Convent of Mercy Transition Year students officially launched the 50th edition of the popular school magazine ‘Macalla’ with a little help from RTÉ journalist and author Carole Coleman on Monday afternoon.
This year’s version of the magazine, which was first published in 1973, is an impressive tome, containing reports on recent school events, celebrity interviews, photographs, and much more.
The 2023 team was led by Editor Shauna Carty and Deputy Editor Faye Reynolds with support from teachers and Macalla joint-coordinators James Wallace and Carmel Whyte.
Addressing Monday’s launch, principal Miriam Hunt paid tribute to those involved in putting the magazine together, describing it as a “wonderful chronicle” of the 2022-2023 school year.
She told those present that the first edition in 1973 cost 40 pence, while the 50th instalment reflected the “vibrant and diverse” school community.
Joint-coordinator James Wallace thanked the 52 students who opted to take part as well as school management and staff for their support. Mr Wallace also paid tribute to Fiona Healy, who was in charge of design, and publishers The Roscommon People, as well as Swift Print in Galway, who printed the magazine.
Mr Wallace’s fellow coordinator Carmel Whyte said the huge interest in this year’s Macalla was testament to the esteem it’s held in within the school.
She thanked Shauna Carty and the editorial team for their ‘Trojan efforts’ and lavished praise on the school’s “talented, polite and mannerly” students.
Shauna Carty said she was honoured to edit Macalla, adding that a lot of work had gone into the magazine over the previous nine months and thanking all contributors including Mr Wallace and Ms Whyte.
She reserved a special thank you to local businesses who had helped support the magazine through advertising.
Special guest Carole Coleman said it was “an honour” to be asked to carry out the launch adding that it was “amazing achievement” to have continued the Macalla tradition for five decades.
Before officially launching Macalla 2023, she said the magazine was a “primary source and wonderful history” of the school and “something amazing for students to look back on” in the years to come.
